MODULE 1

BASICS OF NETWORKING
INTRODUCTION

In the present era of data-and information-centric operations, everything—right from agriculture to military
operations—relies heavily on information. The quality of any particular information is as good as the variety and strength of
the data that generates this information.

Networking refers to the linking of computers and communication network devices (also referred to as hosts), which
interconnect through a network (Internet or Intranet) and are separated by unique device identifiers (Internet protocol, IP
addresses and media access control, MAC addresses).

These hosts may be connected by a single path or through multiple paths for sending and receiving data. The data transferred
between the hosts may be text, images, or videos, which are typically in the form of binary bit streams.

NETWORK TYPES

Computer networks are classified according to various parameters:

1) Type of connection,

2) Physical Topology, and

3) Reach of the Network.

These classifications are helpful in deciding the requirements of a network setup and provide insights into the appropriate
selection of a network type for the setup.

CONNECTION TYPES

Depending on the way a host communicates with other hosts, computer networks are of two types namely Point-to-point
and Point-to-multipoint.

(i) Point-to-point:

1.​ Point-to-point connections are used to establish direct connections between two hosts. Day-to-day systems such as
a remote control for an air conditioner or television is a point to point connection, where the connection has the
whole channel dedicated to it only.
2.​ These networks were designed to work over duplex links and are functional for both synchronous as well as
asynchronous systems. Regarding computer networks, point to point connections find usage for specific
purposessuch as in optical networks.

Fig 1: Point-to-Point

77
(i) Point-to-multipoint:

Dept of ECE, CMRIT

 1.​ In a point-to-multipoint connection, more than two hosts share the same link. This type of configuration is similar
to the one-to-many connection type.
2.​ Point-to-multipoint connections find popular use in wireless networks and IP telephony.
3.​ The channel is shared between the various hosts, either spatially or temporally.
4.​ Point-to-multipoint connections find popular use in present-day networks, especially while enabling
communication between a massive numbers of connected devices.

Fig 2: Point-to-multipoint

PHYSICAL TOPOLOGY

Depending on the physical manner in which communication paths between the hosts are connected, computer networks can
have the following four broad topologies—: Star, Mesh, Bus, and Ring.

Dept of ECE, CMRIT

(i) Star:

1.​ In a star topology, every host has a point-to-point link to a central controller or hub.
2.​ The hosts cannot communicate with one another directly; they can only do so through the central hub.
3.​ The hub acts as the network traffic exchange. as there are fewer links (only one link per host), this topology is
cheaper and easier to set up.
4.​ The main advantages of the star topology are easy installation and the ease of fault identification within the
network.
5.​ The main disadvantage of this topology is the danger of a single point of failure. If the hub fails, the whole
network fails.

Fig 3: Star Topology

(ii) Mesh:

1.​ In a mesh topology, every host is connected to every other host using a dedicated link (in a point-to-point manner).
2.​ This implies that for n hosts in a mesh, there are a total of 𝑛(𝑛 − 1)/2 dedicated full duplex links between the
hosts.
3.​ This massive number of links makes the mesh topology expensive.
4.​ Mesh networks are used very selectively, such as in backbone networks.

Fig 4: Mesh Topology

Advantages of Mesh Network

1. Robustness and Resilience of the system. Even if a link is down or broken, the network is still fully functional as there
remain other pathways for the traffic to flow through.

2. Security and Privacy of the traffic as the data is only seen by the intended recipients and not by all members of the
network.

3. Reduced data load on a single host, as every host in this network takes care of its traffic load.​

(iii) Bus:

1.​ A bus topology follows the point-to-multipoint connection.

2.​ A backbone cable or bus serves as the primary traffic pathway between the hosts.
3.​ The hosts are connected to the main bus employing drop lines or taps.

Dept of ECE, CMRIT

 4.​ There is a restriction on the length of the bus and the number of hosts that can be simultaneously connected to the
bus due to signal loss over the extended bus.
5.​ The main drawback of this topology is the difficulty in fault localization within the network.

Fig 5: Bus Topology

(iv) Ring:

1.​ A ring topology works on the principle of a point-to-point connection.

2.​ Here, each host is configured to have a dedicated point-to-point connection with its two immediate neighbouring
hosts on either side of it through repeaters at each host.
3.​ The repetition of this system forms a ring.
4.​ The repeaters at each host capture the incoming signal intended for other hosts, regenerates the bit stream, and
passes it onto the next repeater.
5.​ Fault identification and set up of the ring topology is quite simple and straightforward.

The main disadvantage of this system is the high probability of a single point of failure. If even one repeater fails, the whole
network goes down.

Fig 6: Ring Topology

COMPARISION OF NETWORK TOPOLOGIES

Topology Feature Advantages Disadvantages

Star Point-to-Point ●​ Cheap ●​ Single point of failure;
●​ Ease of installation ●​ Traffic visible to network entities
●​ Ease of fault identification

Mesh Point-to-Point ●​ Resilient against single point of ●​ Costly

failures. ●​ 2. Complex connections
●​ Scalable
●​ Traffic privacy and security ensured.

Bus Point-to-multip ●​ Cheap ●​ Length of backbone cable

oint ●​ Ease of installation limited.
●​ number of hosts limited
●​ hard to localize faults

Ring Point-to-Point ●​ Cheap ●​ Prone to single point of failure

●​ Ease of installation
●​ Ease of fault identification.

NETWORK REACHABILITY

Computer networks are divided into four broad categories based on network reachability:

1.​ Personal Area Networks,

2.​ Local Area Networks,
3.​ Wide Area Networks, And
4.​ Metropolitan Area Networks

Dept of ECE, CMRIT

(i) Personal Area Networks (PAN):

1.​ PANs, as the name suggests, are mostly restricted to individual usage.
2.​ A good example of PANs may be connected wireless headphones, wireless speakers, laptops, smartphones,
wireless keyboards, wireless mouse, and printers within a house.
3.​ Generally, PANs are wireless networks, which make use of low-range and low-power technologies such as
Bluetooth.
4.​ The reachability of PANs lies in the range of a few centimetres to a few meters.

(ii) Local Area Networks (LAN):

1.​ A LAN is a collection of hosts linked to a single network through wired or wireless connections.
2.​ However, LANs are restricted to buildings, organizations, or campuses.
3.​ Typically, the present-day data access rates within the LANs range from 100 Mbps to 1000 Mbps, with very high
fault-tolerance levels.
4.​ Commonly used network components in a LAN are servers, hubs, routers, switches, terminals, and computers.

(iii) Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN):

1.​ The reachability of a MAN lies between that of a LAN and a WAN.
2.​ Typically, MANs connect various organizations or buildings within a given geographic location or city.
3.​ An excellent example of a MAN is an Internet service provider (ISP) supplying Internet connectivity to various
organizations within a city.
4.​ Typical networking devices/components in MANs are modems and cables. MANs tend to have moderate fault
tolerance levels.

(iv) Wide Area Networks (WAN):

1.​ WANs typically connect diverse geographic locations.

2.​ However, they are restricted within the boundaries of a state or country.
3.​ The data rate of WANs is in the order of a fraction of LAN’s data rate.
4.​ Typically, WANs connecting two LANs or MANs may use public switched telephone networks (PSTNs) or
satellite-based links.
5.​ Due to the long transmission ranges, WANs tend to have more errors and noise during transmission and are very
costly to maintain. The fault tolerance of WANs are also generally low.

LAYERED NETWORK MODELS

The intercommunication between hosts in any computer network, be it a large-scale or a small-scale one, is built upon the
premise of various task-specific layers. Two of the most commonly accepted and used traditional layered network models are

●​ Open Systems Interconnection developed by the International Organization of Standardization (ISO-OSI)

Reference Model and
●​ The Internet Protocol Suite.

OSI Model

The ISO-OSI model is a conceptual framework that partitions any networked communication device into seven layers of
abstraction, each performing distinct tasks based on the underlying technology and internal structure of the hosts. These
seven layers, from bottom-up, are as follows:

1) Physical layer,

2) Data link layer,

3) Network layer,

4) Transport layer,

5) Session layer,

6) Presentation layer, and

Dept of ECE, CMRIT

7) Application layer

Fig 7: Networked communication between two hosts following the OSI model

(i) Physical Layer:

1.​ This is a media layer and is also referred to as layer 1 of the OSI model.
2.​ The physical layer is responsible for taking care of the electrical and mechanical operations of the host at the actual
physical level.
3.​ This layer is responsible for the topological layout of the network (star, mesh, bus, or ring), communication mode
(simplex, duplex, full duplex), and bit rate control operations.
4.​ The protocol data unit associated with this layer is referred to as a symbol.

(ii) Data Link Layer:

1.​ This is a media layer and layer 2 of the OSI model.

2.​ The data link layer is mainly concerned with the establishment and termination of the connection between two
hosts, and the detection and correction of errors during communication between two or more connected hosts.
3.​ IEEE 802 divides the OSI layer 2 further into two sub-layers, Medium access control (MAC) and logical link
control (LLC).
4.​ MAC is responsible for access control and permissions for connecting networked devices.
5.​ LLC is mainly tasked with error checking, flow control, and frame synchronization. The protocol data unit
associated with this layer is referred to as a frame.

(iii) Network Layer: ​

1.​ This layer is a media layer and layer 3 of the OSI model.
2.​ It provides a means of routing data to various hosts connected to different networks through logical paths called
virtual circuits.
3.​ These logical paths may pass through other intermediate hosts (nodes) before reaching the actual destination host.
4.​ ha
5.​ The primary tasks of this layer include addressing, sequencing of packets, congestion control, error handling, and
Internetworking.
6.​ The protocol data unit associated with this layer is referred to as a packet.

(iv) Transport Layer:

1.​ This is layer 4 of the OSI model and is a host layer.

2.​ The transport layer is tasked with end-to-end error recovery and flow control to achieve a transparent transfer of
data between hosts.
3.​ This layer is responsible for keeping track of acknowledgments during variable-length data transfer between hosts.
4.​ In case of loss of data, or when no acknowledgment is received, the transport layer ensures that the particular
erroneous data segment is re-sent to the receiving host.
5.​ The protocol data unit associated with this layer is referred to as a segment or datagram.

(v) Session Layer: ​

Dept of ECE, CMRIT

 1.​ This is the OSI model’s layer 5 and is a host layer.
2.​ It is responsible for establishing, controlling, and terminating of communication between networked hosts.
3.​ The session layer sees full utilization during operations such as remote procedure calls and remote sessions.
4.​ The protocol data unit associated with this layer is referred to as data.

(vi) Presentation Layer:

1.​ This layer is a host layer and layer 6 of the OSI model.
2.​ It is mainly responsible for data format conversions and encryption tasks such that the syntactic compatibility of
the data is maintained across the network, for which it is also referred to as the syntax layer.
3.​ The protocol data unit associated with this layer is referred to as data.

(vii) Application Layer:

1.​ This is layer 7 of the OSI model and is a host layer.

2.​ It is directly accessible by an end-user through software APIs (application program interfaces) and terminals.
3.​ Applications such as file transfers, FTP (file transfer protocol), e-mails, and other such operations are initiated
from this layer.
4.​ The application layer deals with user authentication, identification of communication hosts, quality of service, and
privacy.
5.​ The protocol data unit associated with this layer is referred to as data.

INTERNET PROTOCOL SUITE

The Internet protocol suite is yet another conceptual framework that provides levels of abstraction for ease of understanding
and development of communication and networked systems on the Internet.

Internet protocol suite predates the OSI model and provides only four levels of abstraction: 1) Link layer, 2) Internet
layer, 3) transport layer, and 4) application layer.

This collection of protocols is commonly referred to as the TCP/IP protocol suite as the foundation technologies of this suite
are transmission control protocol (TCP) and Internet protocol (IP).

Fig 8: Networked communication between two hosts following the TCP/IP suite

(i) Link Layer:

1.​ The first and base layer of the TCP/IP protocol suite is also known as the network interface layer.
2.​ This layer is synonymous with the collective physical and data link layer of the OSI model.
3.​ It enables the transmission of TCP/IP packets over the physical medium.
4.​ According to its design principles, the link layer is independent of the medium in use, frame format, and network
access, enabling it to be used with a wide range of technologies such as the Ethernet, wireless LAN, and the
asynchronous transfer mode (ATM).

(ii) Internet Layer:

1.​ Layer 2 of the TCP/IP protocol suite is somewhat synonymous to the network layer of the OSI model.
2.​ It is responsible for addressing, address translation, data packaging, data disassembly and assembly, routing, and
packet delivery tracking operations.

Dept of ECE, CMRIT

 3.​ Some core protocols associated with this layer are address resolution protocol (ARP), Internet protocol (IP),
Internet control message protocol (ICMP), and Internet group management protocol (IGMP).
4.​ Traditionally, this layer was built upon IPv4, which is gradually shifting to IPv6, enabling the accommodation of a
much more significant number of addresses and security measures.

(iii) Transport Layer:

1.​ Layer 3 of the TCP/IP protocol suite is functionally synonymous with the transport layer of the OSI model.
2.​ This layer is tasked with the functions of error control, flow control, congestion control, segmentation, and
addressing in an end-to-end manner; it is also independent of the underlying network.
3.​ Transmission control protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) are the core protocols upon which this
layer is built, which in turn enables it to have the choice of providing connection-oriented or connectionless
services between two or more hosts or networked devices.

(iv) Application Layer:

1.​ The functionalities of the application layer, layer 4, of the TCP/IP protocol suite are synonymous with the
collective functionalities of the OSI model’s session, presentation, and application layers.
2.​ This layer enables an end-user to access the services of the underlying layers and defines the protocols for the
transfer of data. Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), file transfer protocol (FTP), simple mail transfer protocol
(SMTP), domain name system (DNS), routing information protocol (RIP), and simple network management
protocol (SNMP) are some of the core protocols associated with this layer.

Differences between the OSI and TCP/IP model

OSI Model TCP/IP Model

1. It stands for Transmission Control Protocol.

1. It stands for Open System Interconnection.

2. It has 7 layers. 2. It has 4 layers.

3. It is an independent standard and generic protocol used as a 3. It consists of standard protocols that lead to the
communication gateway between the network and the end user. development of an internet. It is a communication protocol
that provides the connection among the hosts.
4. This model is based on a vertical approach. 4. This model is based on a horizontal approach.

5. In this model, the session and presentation layers are 5. In this model, the session and presentation layer are not
separated, i.e., both the layers are different. different layers. Both layers are included in the application
layer.
6. In this model, the network layer provides both 6. The network layer provides only connectionless service.
connection-oriented and connectionless service.
7. Protocols in the OSI model are hidden and can be easily 7. In this model, the protocol cannot be easily replaced.
replaced when the technology changes.
8. It provides standardization to the devices like router, 8. It does not provide the standardization to the devices. It
motherboard, switches, and other hardware devices. provides a connection between various computers.

EMERGENCE OF IOT:
Each second, the present-day Internet allows massively heterogeneous traffic through it. This network traffic
consists of images, videos, music, speech, text, numbers, binary codes, machine status, banking messages, data from sensors
and actuators, healthcare data, data from vehicles, home automation system status and control messages, military
communications, and many more. This huge variety of data is generated from a massive number of connected devices, which
may be directly connected to the Internet or connected through gateway devices.

Dept of ECE, CMRIT

 Fig 10: 10-year global trend and projection of connected devices

IoT is an anytime, anywhere, and anything (as shown in Figure 4.2) network of Internet-connected physical devices or
systems capable of sensing an environment and affecting the sensed environment intelligently. This is generally achieved
using low-power and low-form-factor embedded processors on-board the “things” connected to the Internet.

Fig 11: The three characteristic features-anytime, anywhere, and anything-highlight the
robustness and dynamic nature of IoT

Typically, IoT systems can be characterized by the following features:

• Associated architectures, which are also efficient and scalable.
• No ambiguity in naming and addressing.
• Massive number of constrained devices, sleeping nodes, mobile devices, and non-IP devices.
• Intermittent and often unstable connectivity

EVOLUTION OF IoT
Fig 12 shows the sequence of technological advancements for shaping the IoT as it is today. These sequence of technical
developments toward the emergence of IoT are described in brief:

Fig 12: The sequence of technological developments leading to the shaping of the modern day IoT

• ATM: ATMs or automated teller machines are cash distribution machines, which are linked to a user’s bank account.
ATMs dispense cash upon verification of the identity of a user and their account through a specially coded card.

• Web: World Wide Web is a global information sharing and communication platform. The Web became operational for the
first time in 1991. Since then, it has been massively responsible for the many revolutions in the field of computing and
communication.

• Smart Meters: The earliest smart meter was a power meter, which became operational in early 2000. These power meters
were capable of communicating remotely with the power grid. They enabled remote monitoring of subscribers’ power usage
and eased the process of billing and power allocation from grids.

• Digital Locks: Digital locks can be considered as one of the earlier attempts at connected home-automation systems.
Present-day digital locks are so robust that smartphones can be used to control them.

Dept of ECE, CMRIT

• Connected Healthcare: Here, healthcare devices connect to hospitals, doctors, and relatives to alert them of medical
emergencies and take preventive measures. The devices may be simple wearable appliances, monitoring just the heart rate
and pulse of the wearer, as well as regular medical devices and monitors in hospitals.

• Connected Vehicles: Connected vehicles may communicate to the Internet or with other vehicles, or even with sensors and
actuators contained within it. These vehicles self-diagnose themselves and alert owners about system failures.

• Smart Cities: This is a city-wide implementation of smart sensing, monitoring, and actuation systems. The city-wide
infrastructure communicating amongst themselves enables unified and synchronized operations and information
dissemination.

• Smart Dust: These are microscopic computers. Smaller than a grain of sand each, they can be used in numerous beneficial
ways, where regular computers cannot operate. For example, smart dust can be sprayed to measure chemicals in the soil or
even to diagnose problems in the human body.

• Smart Factories: These factories can monitor plant processes, assembly lines, distribution lines, and manage factory floors
all on their own. The reduction in mishaps due to human errors in judgment or un-optimized processes is drastically reduced.

• UAVs: UAVs or unmanned aerial vehicles have emerged as robust public domain solutions tasked with applications
ranging from agriculture, surveys, surveillance, deliveries, stock maintenance, asset management, and other tasks.

Figure 4.7 shows the various technological interdependencies of IoT with other domains and networking
paradigms such as M2M, CPS, the Internet of environment (IoE), the Internet of people (IoP), and Industry 4.0. Each of
these networking paradigms is a massive domain on its own, but the omnipresent nature of IoT implies that these domains
act as subsets of IoT.

Fig 13: The interdependence and reach of IoT over various application domains and​
networking paradigms
(i) M2M: The M2M or the machine-to-machine paradigm signifies a system of connected machines and devices, which can
talk amongst themselves without human intervention. The communication between the machines can be for updates on
machine status (stocks, health, power status, and others), collaborative task completion, overall knowledge of the systems
and the environment, and others.

(ii) CPS: The CPS or the cyber physical system paradigm insinuates a closed control loop—from sensing, processing, and
finally to actuation—using a feedback mechanism. CPS helps in maintaining the state of an environment through the
feedback control loop, which ensures that until the desired state is attained, the system keeps on actuating and sensing.
Humans have a simple supervisory role in CPS-based systems; most of the ground-level operations are automated.

(iii) IoE: The IoE paradigm is mainly concerned with minimizing and even reversing the ill-effects of the permeation of
Internet-based technologies on the environment. The major focus areas of this paradigm include smart and sustainable
farming, sustainable and energy-efficient habitats, enhancing the energy efficiency of systems and processes, and others. In
brief, we can safely assume that any aspect of IoT that concerns and affects the environment, falls under the purview of IoE.

(iv) Industry 4.0: Industry 4.0 is commonly referred to as the fourth industrial revolution pertaining to digitization in the
manufacturing industry. The previous revolutions chronologically dealt with mechanization, mass production, and the
industrial revolution, respectively. This paradigm strongly puts forward the concept of smart factories, where machines talk
to one another without much human involvement based on a framework of CPS and IoT. The digitization and connectedness
in Industry 4.0 translate to better resource and workforce management, optimization of production time and resources, and
better upkeep and lifetimes of industrial systems.

(v) IoP: IoP is a new technological movement on the Internet which aims to decentralize online social interactions,
payments, transactions, and other tasks while maintaining confidentiality and privacy of its user’s data. A famous site for IoP
states that as the introduction of the Bitcoin has severely limited the power of banks and governments, the acceptance of IoP
will limit the power of corporations, governments, and their spy agencies.

IoT versus M2M

M2M IoT

Dept of ECE, CMRIT

IoT versus CPS

CPS IoT

1. Cyber physical systems (CPS) encompasses sensing, 1. IoT paradigm does not compulsorily need feedback.
control, actuation, and feedback as a complete package.

2. A digital twin is attached to a CPS-based system. 2. IoT does not need digital twin system.

3. Based on feedback from the digital twin, a physical system 3. Some of the constituent sub-systems in an IoT
can be easily given corrective directions/commands to obtain environment (such as those formed by CPS-based
desirable outputs. instruments and networks) may include feedback and
controls too.
4. CPS may be considered as one of the sub-domains of IoT. 4. IoT is more focused on networking than controls.

5. IoT devices may not have the same safety

5. Devices are not dependent on the Internet CPS systems requirements, but reliability is still essential to ensure
require high levels of reliability and safety, as errors or that they function correctly and provide accurate data.
malfunctions can have severe consequences.

6. Examples of CPS systems include self-driving cars,

industrial automation systems, and medical devices. 6. Examples of IoT devices include smart thermostats,
fitness trackers, and home security systems.

IoT versus WoT

WoT IoT

1. Web of Things (WoT) paradigm enables access and control 1. IoT is focused on creating networks comprising
over IoT resources and applications. objects, things, people, systems, and applications.

Dept of ECE, CMRIT

 2. These resources and applications 2. IoT does not consider the unification aspect.
are generally built using technologies such as HTML 5.0,
JavaScript, Ajax, PHP, and
others.
3. The use of RESTful principles and RESTful APIs 3. The scope of IoT applications is much broader
(application program interface) enables both developers and which includes non-IP-based systems that are not
deployers to benefit from the recognition, acceptance, and accessible through the web.
maturity of
existing web technologies without having to redesign and
redeploy solutions from scratch.
4. WoT aims to integrate the various focus areas of IoT into 4. IoT is more focused on networking than controls.
the existing Web.

5. Focus areas of IoT are Physical devices and

5. Focus areas of WoT are Web-based interfaces, protocols, sensors, data collection, connectivity, interoperability,
and standards, device management, security, interoperability, data analysis, and automation
and integration with web-based systems and services.

Enabling IoT and the Complex Interdependence of Technologies

IoT is a paradigm built upon complex interdependencies of technologies (both legacy and modern), which occur at
various planes of this paradigm. Regarding Fig 14, we can divide the IoT paradigm into four planes:
services, local connectivity, global connectivity, and processing.

If we consider a bottom-up view, the services offered fall under the control and purview of service providers. The
service plane is composed of two parts:
1) things or devices and 2) low-power connectivity.

1.​ Typically, the services offered in this layer are a combination of things and low power connectivity.
2.​ For example, any IoT application requires the basic setup of sensing, followed by rudimentary processing (often),
and a low-power, low-range network, which is mainly built upon the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol.
3.​ The things may be wearables, computers, smartphones, household appliances, smart glasses, factory machinery,
vending machines, vehicles, UAVs, robots, and other such contraptions (which may even be just a sensor).
4.​ The immediate low-power connectivity, which is responsible for connecting the things in local implementation,
may be legacy protocols such as WiFi, Ethernet, or cellular. In contrast, modern-day technologies are mainly
wireless and often programmable such as Zigbee, RFID, Bluetooth, 6LoWPAN, LoRA, DASH, Insteon, and
others.
5.​ The range of these connectivity technologies is severely restricted; they are responsible for the connectivity
between the things of the IoT and the nearest hub or gateway to access the Internet.

Fig 14: The IoT planes, various enablers of IoT, and the complex interdependencies among them

Local connectivity
1.​ This is responsible for distributing Internet access to multiple local IoT deployments.

Dept of ECE, CMRIT

 2.​ This distribution may be on the basis of the physical placement of the things, on the basis of the application
domains, or even on the basis of providers of services.
3.​ Services such as address management, device management, security, sleep scheduling, and others fall within the
scope of this plane.
4.​ For example, in a smart home environment, the first floor and the ground floor may have local IoT
implementations, which have various things connected to the network via low-power, low-range connectivity
technologies. The traffic from these two floors merges into a single router or a gateway. The total traffic intended
for the Internet from a smart home leaves through a single gateway or router, which may be assigned a single
global IP address (for the whole house). This helps in the significant conservation of already limited global IP
addresses.
5.​ The local connectivity plane falls under the purview of IoT management as it directly deals with strategies to
use/reuse addresses based on things and applications. The modern-day “edge computing” paradigm is deployed in
conjunction with these first two planes: services and local connectivity.

Global connectivity
1.​ This layer plays a significant role in enabling IoT in the real sense by allowing for worldwide implementations and
connectivity between things, users, controllers, and applications.
2.​ This plane also falls under the purview of IoT management as it decides how and when to store data, when to
process it, when to forward it, and in which form to forward it.
3.​ The Web, data-centers, remote servers, Cloud, and others make up this plane.
4.​ The paradigm of “fog computing” lies between the planes of local connectivity and global connectivity.
5.​ It often serves to manage the load of global connectivity infrastructure by offloading the computation nearer to the
source of the data itself, which reduces the traffic load on the global Internet.

Processing
1.​ The final plane of processing can be considered as a top-up of the basic IoT networking framework.
2.​ The members in this plane may be termed as IoT tools, simply because they wring-out useful and human-readable
information from all the raw data that flows from various IoT devices and deployments.
3.​ The various sub-domains of this plane include intelligence, conversion (data and format conversion, and data
cleaning), learning (making sense of temporal and spatial data patterns), cognition (recognizing patterns and
mapping it to already known patterns), algorithms (various control and monitoring algorithms), visualization
(rendering Emergence of IoT 87 numbers and strings in the form of collective trends, graphs, charts, and
projections), and analysis (estimating the usefulness of the generated information, making sense of the information
with respect to the application and place of data generation, and estimating future trends based on past and present
patterns of information obtained).
4.​ Various computing paradigms such as “big data”, “machine Learning”, and others, fall within the scope of this
domain.

IoT Networking Components

An IoT implementation is composed of several components, which may vary with their application domains. There
are five broad categories of IoT networking components. However, we outline the broad components that come into play
during the establishment of any IoT network, into six types: 1) IoT node, 2) IoT router, 3) IoT LAN, 4) IoT WAN, 5) IoT
gateway, and 6) IoT proxy. A typical IoT implementation from a networking perspective is shown in Figure 4.9. The
individual components are briefly described here:

(i) IoT Node: These are the networking devices within an IoT LAN. Each of these devices is typically made up of a sensor, a
processor, and a radio, which communicates with the network infrastructure (either within the LAN or outside it). The nodes
may be connected to other nodes inside a LAN directly or by means of a common gateway for that LAN. Connections
outside the LAN are through gateways and proxies.

Dept of ECE, CMRIT

 Fig 15: A typical IoT network ecosystem highlighting the various networking components|​
from IoT nodes to the Internet

(ii) IoT Router: An I oT router is a piece of networking equipment that is primarily tasked with the routing of packets
between various entities in the IoT network; it keeps the traffic flowing correctly within the network. A router can be
repurposed as a gateway by enhancing its functionalities.

(iii) IoT LAN: The local area network (LAN) enables local connectivity within the purview of a single gateway. Typically,
they consist of short-range connectivity technologies. IoT LANs may or may not be connected to the Internet. Generally,
they are localized within a building or an organization.

(iv) IoT WAN: The wide area network (WAN) connects various network segments such as LANs. They are typically
organizationally and geographically wide, with their operational range lying between a few kilometers to hundreds of
kilometers. IoT WANs connect to the Internet and enable Internet access to the segments they are connecting.

(v) IoT Gateway: An IoT gateway is simply a router connecting the IoT LAN to a WAN or the Internet. Gateways can
implement several LANs and WANs. Their primary task is to forward packets between LANs and WANs, and the IP layer
using only layer 3.​

(vi) IoT Proxy: Proxies actively lie on the application layer and performs application layer functions between IoT nodes and
other entities. Typically, application layer proxies are a means of providing security to the network entities under it ; it helps
to extend the addressing range of its network.

In Fig 15, various IoT nodes within an IoT LAN are configured to to one another as well as talk to the IoT router whenever
they are in the range of it. The devices have locally unique (LU-x) device identifiers. These identifiers are unique only
within a LAN. There is a high chance that these identifiers may be repeated in a new LAN. Each IoT LAN has its own
unique identifier, which is denoted by IoT LAN-x in Fig 15. A router acts as a connecting link between various LANs by
forwarding messages from the LANs to the IoT gateway or the IoT proxy. As the proxy is an application layer device, it is
additionally possible to include features such as firewalls, packet filters, and other security measures besides the regular
routing operations. Various gateways connect to an IoT WAN, which links these devices to the Internet. There may be cases
where the gateway or the proxy may directly connect to the Internet. This network may be wired or wireless; however, IoT
deployments heavily rely on wireless solutions. This is mainly attributed to the large number of devices that are integrated
into the network; wireless technology is the only feasible and neat-enough solution to avoid the hassles of laying wires and
dealing with the restricted mobility rising out of wired connections.

QUESTION BANK
1.​ With a neat diagram explain interdependence and reach of IoT over various application domains.
2.​ Differentiate between OSI and TCP/IP.
3.​ With a neat diagram IoT networking components.
4.​ Explain the following i) IoT versus M2M ii) IoT versus CPS iii) IoT versus WoT.
5.​ With a neat diagram explain the evolution of IOT.
6.​ What is the ISO-OSI model? Discuss the highlights of the seven layers of the OSI stacks.
7.​ How to enable IoT and explain the complex interdependence of technologies with respect to IoT?
8.​ Differentiate between point-to-point and point-to-multipoint connection types.
9.​ Explain how PANs are different from LANs and how MANs are different from WANs?

Dept of ECE, CMRIT

 10.​ Write a short note on a) IoT 2) Smart dust 3) WoT
11.​ Differentiate between an IoT proxy and an IoT gateway.
12.​ Explain about IoT Networking Components with neat figure and also explain how locally unique (LU)
addresses are different from globally unique (GU) addresses.
13.​ What are the various IoT connectivity terminologies?
14.​ Summarize the characteristic features of IoT systems.
15.​ Classify network types based on physical topologies and connection types with schematic diagrams.
16.​ Explain networked communication between two hosts following the TCP/IP suite with a block
diagram.
17.​ Discuss the evolution of IoT and provide IoT Applications in Real Time.

Dept of ECE, CMRIT